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First phase of east Jackson County flyover project winds down, road widening begins in March

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Crews work to put the finishing touches on the first phase of the U.S. 90-Industrial Road flyover project in east Jackson County on Feb. 13, 2014. The work should be done next week, leaders said, and phase two is set to begin in March. (April Havens/ahavens@al.com.)

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- The $23 million first phase of the U.S. 90-Industrial Road flyover project is coming to a close, MDOT area engineer Gabe Faggard said today, and the $13.6 million second phase is set to begin mid-March.

The large road project -- funded through local, state and grant funds -- connects Miss. 63 to Miss. 611, bypassing U.S. 90 and the CSX railroad.

The first phase, which includes roadwork along Miss. 63 from Frederick Street south to Old Mobile Highway, realignment work and the overpass itself, should be complete by next week.

Crews work to put the finishing touches on the first phase of the U.S. 90-Industrial Road flyover project in east Jackson County on Feb. 13, 2014. The work should be done next week, leaders said, and phase two is set to begin in March. (April Havens/ahavens@al.com.)

"Right now, the paving contractor is paving along 90, and we also have the sign contractor putting up the overhead signs," Faggard said. "The overhead signs are going up around 7 p.m. tonight to show you how to get on and off the ramps."

Other crews are preparing roadways for restriping and doing final touch-up work on the flyover bridge.

"The project is definitely in the final stages," he said. "We hope to have all traffic in the new configuration on all the ramps by the end of next week."

Lighting has been installed under the overpass, and high-mast lighting also surrounds the interchange.

The second phase of the major road project is to five-lane Industrial Road from Old Mobile Highway to the LNG facility. That phase is set to begin March 13 and should be complete in June 2015.

The project is meant to make commutes more efficient through east Jackson County's industrial corridor and boost safety at the railroad crossing.

"With the large number of employees traveling that route every day and with the large amount of truck traffic going in and out to Chevron and other industries, eliminating that railroad crossing will definitely improve not only the efficiency of travel but will also greatly reduce the chance of side collisions with traffic and the CSX railroad," Faggard said.

The years-long construction project -- which was more than a decade in the making -- has presented some challenges to MDOT.

"It was a very complex process trying to open up just a portion of the interchange while leaving another portion on the old route, but it was necessary to do it that way simply because a big portion of the interchange is constructed on top of where the old road was located," Faggard said. "We had to open in phases in order to keep traffic moving."

The highly-traveled Miss. 611 industrial corridor is home to Chevron Corp.'s Pascagoula refinery, a Rolls-Royce propeller center, First Chemical Corp. and Mississippi Phosphates Corp., among other businesses.